History of violence against women
http://www.socialpolicy.ca/52100/m23/m23-t9.stm
Abuse is not a recent phenomenon and has been sanctioned throughout history. A 15th century marriage manual states: "When you see your wife commit an offence, don't rush at her with insults and violent blows, scold her sharply, bully and terrify her, and if this doesn't work take up a stick and beat her soundly. For it is better to punish the body and correct the soul, than to damage the soul and spare the body. Then readily beat her, not in rage, but out of charity and concern for her soul so the beating will be down to your merit and her good."
In 1867, wife abuse was written into the English Common Law. According to the law, it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife with a whip or stick as long as it was no bigger than the circumference of his thumb. Hence, the phrase "Rule of thumb." So we see that what we refer to as wife assault today has been considered acceptable behaviour as a way of controlling and dominating women.
http://www.ccids.umaine.edu/resources/dvp/files/three.htm
· In sixteenth century England, wives were instructed to be subservient and compliant with their husbands and the king; allegiance to their husbands was associated with loyalty to the rulers and to God.
· During the Reformation in England, the legitimate head of the household assumed power and authority inside the home environment, both in religious and moral arenas. Church doctrine designed to enhance the legitimacy of the subordinate role of wives was communicated in churches and other venues such as marriage manuals. And although harm activity and limited harm consequences were legitimated with appropriate moral explanations, harm activity and threshold were delimited. For example, blows to the head or sensitive organs, or violence perpetrated against pregnant women were considered illegitimate. Husbands’ violence using weapons, such as axes, sickles, or knives was also condemned. Husbands who engaged in harm activity that was illegitimate and caused consequences in excess of an acceptable harm threshold were subjected to public shaming. Yet, there was community legitimacy for the harm activity of beating a woman for such “offenses” as rejecting her husband’s authority, exhibiting intoxication, or neglecting her domestic duties.
· In 1871, Alabama and Massachusetts were the first states to delegitimate wife beating. Other states followed and most allowed cruelty as legitimate grounds for divorce.
http://www.womankind.org.uk/violence-against-women.html
· The 1992 UN Declaration on Violence Against Women is the first international human rights instrument to address the issue.
http://www.unece.org/stats/gender/vaw/about.html
· Among the milestones in the campaign against VAW have been the two UN declarations of elimination of violence against women introduced in 1993 and 2003, respectively, as well as the Beijing World Conference on Women in 1995. The UN has assumed a leading role in the recognition and fight against gender-based violence, whereas Canada has taken a leading role in the attempt to measure and assess the extent of VAW.
http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/companion.asp?id=8&compID=63
At the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, violence against women was identified as one of the most pressing concerns of women worldwide. In 1999, a session of the UN General Assembly was devoted to women’s rights as human rights and ending violence against women.
In 2001, international criminal courts started to address rape in war. Recently, several resolutions dealing with the worldwide problem of violence against women have been introduced at the UN Security Council.
Statistics of violence against women internationally
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/
In a 10-country study on women's health and domestic violence conducted by WHO,
Between 15% and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner.
Many women said that their first sexual experience was not consensual. (24% in rural Peru, 28% in Tanzania, 30% in rural Bangladesh, and 40% in South Africa).
Between 4% and 12% of women reported being physically abused during pregnancy.
Every year, about 5,000 women are murdered by family members in the name of honour each year worldwide.
Worldwide, up to one in five women and one in 10 men report experiencing sexual abuse as children. Children subjected to sexual abuse are much more likely to encounter other forms of abuse later in life.
http://www.womankind.org.uk/statistics.html
Violence causes more death and disability worldwide amongst women aged 15-44 than war, cancer, malaria and traffic accidents (World Bank Study World Development Report: Investing in Health, New York, Oxford University Press, 1993.)
Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her (General Assembly. In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary General, 2006. A/61/122/Add.1. 6 July 2006)
· It is estimated that worldwide, one in five women will become a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime (Referred to by Mara Jos Alcal. State of World Population 2005. The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals. UNFPA. 2005. 65).
· In Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped during the 1994 genocide. The numbers were as high as 60,000 in the war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Equally, in Sierra Leone, the number of incidents of war-related sexual violence among internally displaced women from 1991 to 2001 was as high as 64,000 [Vlachova, Biason (editors).
· Out of 10 countries surveyed in a 2005 study by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 50% of women in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru and Tanzania reported having been subjected to physical or sexual violence by intimate partners, with figures reaching a staggering 71% in rural Ethiopia. Only in one country (Japan) did less than 20% of women report incidents of domestic violence
http://www.feminist.com/antiviolence/facts.html#global
· Globally, at least one in three women and girls is beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. (UN Commission on the Status of Women, 2/28/00)
· The most common act of violence against women is being slapped—an experience reported by 9% of women in Japan and 52% in provincial Peru. Rates of sexual abuse also varies greatly around the world—with partner rape being reported by 6% of women from Serbia and Montenegro, 46% of women from provincial Bangladesh, and 59% of women in Ethiopia. (WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women, 2005)
http://www.cdnwomen.org/EN/section05/3_5_1_1-violence_facts.html
*Just thought I would also add stats of Violence against women in Canada
· Half of Canadian women (51%) have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.
Thirty-six percent of female victims of spousal violence and less than 10% of victims of sexual assault reported these crimes to the police in 2004.
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/factsheets/facts_vaw.htm
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